Last year I wrote about smart humans and the need for harmonious living on our planet, extending beyond just humanity. Tech like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) will improve skill training! Imagine having a smart personal assistant tailored for each one of you! We need to bring the best to every being, everywhere!
The Internet revolutionized the ease of getting information. Web3 is creating new ways of decentralization. Now, AI democratizes discovery of unknowns at population-scale!
Around the world, it is historic that eleven years after its discovery, the gene-editing tool CRISPR was approved in the UK, Bahrain, and the US to treat sickle cell disease, reducing pain and possibly curing some patients; Egypt eliminated hepatitis C; Bangladesh eradicated black fever and elephantiasis; Cancer death rates in the US fell by a third over three decades; Malaria vaccines began distribution in Africa; and new Alzheimer's drugs showed promise. In the last 18 months, the world's use of solar energy has grown faster than any other energy technology, doubling in size. Over 413 GW of solar installed globally in 2023; China doubled its solar contributing 240 GW and wind capacity.
India spotlight
India's economy grew well despite global issues. Agriculture, services, and manufacturing did well, although careful attention to money/debt management, particularly regarding inflation, remains crucial. India has established as a leader in protective healthcare, delivering COVID vaccines at population-scale. India is an emerging key player in sectors like silicon manufacturing offering a strong alternative to other global players.
Tech is set to play a pivotal role in overhauling sectors like Education, Healthcare, and Climate change, contributing significantly to the development of skilled human capital! India’s digital public goods is built on open architecture and network with focus on high-volume, low-cost solution, which addresses different priorities in diverse languages. For example, Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC) + Unified Payments Interface (UPI) + Goods and Services Tax (GST) + eWayBill + FastTag form an end-to-end technology led, and interoperable system that will power this modern e-commerce market!
Few interesting India statistics which I look out every year:
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has 250 million users. In a span of over three years, from Apr’20-Sep’23, UPI’s transactions per month grew from 1 billion to a staggering 10 billion. In FY 2022-23, ~₹85 billion (about $1.1 billion) transacted at a CAGR of ~94% with 134 billion transactions worth ₹175 billion (about $2.2 billion); UPI accounts for 62% of digital payment transactions; UPI recorded over 10 billion transactions in a single month in August 2023; UPI Year-over-year (YoY) growth of 54% in transactions and 42% transaction amount.
FASTag made 2.4 billion transactions last year. Daily of 10 million transactions with ₹1.75 billion (about $23 million) daily and ₹519 billion (about $6.92 billion) annual toll collections helping build better roads.
Aadhar reached 1.38 billion people; 104 billion authentications; 1.3 billion eKYC; 80 million daily authentications.
13.7 million companies are Goods and Services Tax (GST) registered; 71.4 million people pay income tax digitally. Tax to GDP ratio stands at 11.7%, a notable metric that supports government expenditure on public welfare.
Diksha platform – 622 billion learning minutes; every government printed textbook has been QR coded; Every textbook has 20 QR codes per textbook attached to different topics. 600 million textbooks which means 12 billion digitally addressable QR codes today.
ONDC reached 5,000 orders daily in Apr’23; By Aug’23, surged to 50,000 transactions per day; During Diwali, Daily orders averaged 1.5 lakh (150K), with 1.2 million transactions in just a week. Recently, a new milestone by crossing 2 lakh (200K) orders per day. 2.3 lakhs+ sellers and service providers active across 500+ cities/towns; India retail market potential is expected to grow from ₹61.4 Lakh Crore (about $820 billion) in 2022 to ₹154.4 Lakh Crore ($2.06 trillion) by 2025; India has 14 crore e-retail shoppers, ranking third globally; E-retail penetration in India was 4.3% in 2020, compared to 25% in China and 26% in South Korea.
By March 2023, India’s total mobile broadband subscriptions in the country increased to over 830 million, with Jio accounting for 53%; Monthly average total data usage per subscriber in India increased from 240 MB to 17.4 GB. In the 12 months after launch in Oct’22, Jio deployed more than 1 million 5G cells, deploying one 5G cell every 10 seconds at the peak of the rollout; Jio accounts to 85% of India’s 5G capacity; Jio reached 70 million 5G customers.
India reported more than 132 GW power capacity under construction; more than 464 GW electricity capacity expected to be added by 2031-2032.
In last 10 years, Indian Railways electrified 40,000 km of tracks, adding 5,200 km last year alone; ~70 years before, railways covered 80% of transport; now it is at 29%; Goal is to increase this to 35% by 2030; aiming to reduce India's dependence on oil, thanks to the shift towards electrification.
November 19 recorded 4.56 lakhs domestic Airline passengers - the highest single-day air traffic returning to pre-COVID averages indicate recovery and resilience. Since operations in May 2008, Bengaluru Airport reached a 300 million passengers milestone, last 50 million in 524 days and handles 34 million passengers per year; Six new airports are operational like Rourkela, Hollongi, Jamshedpur, Cooch Behar, Utkela & Shivamogga. 66 airports across the country are running with 100% Green Energy. India has direct connectivity to more than 52 countries and 100 countries through indirect routes; Over 35 lakh users downloaded the Digi yatra app, and 91 lakh passengers used Digi yatra for paperless airport processing.
In India, the number of girls married before age 18 has dropped from 46% to 23% in 15 years, especially after last year's ban on child marriage.
On 20th Dec 2023, Krutrim (olakrutrim.com) - India’s full stack AI model like ChatGPT was launched by the co-founder of Ola Cabs and Ola Electric.
This year has been challenging for me personally, with the loss of my father and colleagues facing layoffs, and it's been tough witnessing the events at the Gaza-Israel border. Despite these hardships, the progress and positive developments around us continue to inspire hope.
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